It’s the qualifying session we’ve all been waiting for: the last Superpole of the 2009 season at Portimao, Portugal. A vetting process for tomorrow’s races, today’s Superpole gives us a glimpse into how this amazing season might end. How close would Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga be on the starting line come Sunday? Who would be faster? By what margin? And lastly, would Ben Spies be able to take the outright pole record for World Superbike racing? Those answers after the jump.
There’s a large stigma around China and the motorcycle industry, but Ducati isn’t one to let some misconceptions get in the way of their bottomline. With China rapidly becoming one of the largest motorcycle markets in the world, Ducati has its eyes set on establishing itself as the premium brand of choice for uppity Chinese urbanites, and thus has opened its first Official Ducati store in China this week. More after the jump.
New race teams seem to be flocking to the 2010 MotoGP season. First it was Italian hopeful FB Corse, and now Spanish Inmotec has joined the fray with their own MotoGP bid. With their official launch to come at the Valencian GP, Inmotec hopes to enter their 800cc prototype racer, the the Inmotec GPI 10, with success against not only the other privateer teams, but against the factory squads as well. More after Inmotec after the jump.
We typically don’t cover the Free Practice/Qualifying sessions in World Superbike, but considering that the entire season will come down to Sunday’s race, we’re making an exception. With QP1 in the bag already at Portimao, we get some insight into how the grid could come together for the last race of the WSBK season, and the results might surprise some people. More after the jump.
What will transportation look like in the future? MotoCzysz and Indian based Bajaj seem to have their theories, and the two companies have announced a joint-venture that will explore the next generation of automobile. Releasing a vague press release, we suspect the two companies are in the process of creating prototype hybrid vehicle that will explore a form factor and design not previously seen in the automobile industry. More from the announcement after the jump.
An icon of motorcycling, the Honda Super Cub changed the perception of motorcycles in American culture by creating a bike that normal everyday people could use for basic transportation needs.
As times have changed, and a new-found desire for a cheap, efficient, people-pusher has emerged in the motorcycle industry, and Honda seems uncomfortable letting companies like Brammo tread on its domain.
Accordingly at the Tokyo Motor Show this week, Honda released an all new electric scooter design that plays heavily off its Super Cub predecessor. More info after the jump.
Reports are coming in that Alex de Angelis will be headed to Scot Honda (thus ending any rumor that Toni Elias would be joining the satellite Honda team), and that Elias will be headed to Moto2 with the Sito Pons team. Kalex Engineering is expected to be providing Sito Pons with one of their Moto2 chassis solutions. You may remember Kalex from their gorgeous liter-bike track weapon we ran a couple months ago. While many are reporting these moves as fact, their appears to be some margin of uncertainty in the plan.
Daniele Romagnoli, Team Manager on the Lorenzo side of the Fiat-Yamaha garage, has announced that he will be leaving the factory Yamaha team at the end of the 2009 season. A born engineer, Romagnoli is looking to return to his crew-chief roots, and Honda HRC may have that answer.
Behold the most powerful production motorcycle in the world. If you’re saying to yourself, “gee…that looks a lot like the Bimota Tesi 3D,” you’d be right, and that’s because the Vyrus 987 C3 4V was designed by Ascanio Rodorigo, who worked with Massimo Tamburini at Bimota in the early-1980’s. Now running the boutique shop Vyrus, Rodorigo has unveiled his latest revision in his series, the 987.
Problems seem to be afoot at Zero Motorcycles this month as the company has recalled nearly 200 Zero X and Zero MX motorcycles for malfunctioning throttles. Zero is also delaying its 2010 Zero S supermoto because of problems with the motor over-heating. More on both announcements after the jump.
After much back and forth, Kawasaki has finally announced that Tom Sykes will be joining Christopher Vermeulen on its factory World Superbike team, riding the 2010 Kawasaki ZX-10R. Sykes, who is currently Ben Spies’ partner at Sterilgarda Yamaha, will be making the switch to Team Green, where he will once again be playing second fiddle.